Bangladesh will have to bring their A game when they face the visiting Japan Under-21 football team in an international friendly at Bangabandhu National Stadium on December 18 as the junior Samurais are considered the future of Japanese football.
Although all the countries sent their U-23 team to the last Asian Games football competition in Incheon, South Korea, Japan played their U-21 side. Japan U-21 reached the quarterfinals in the Asiad before bowing out to eventual champions South Korea. In the group stage, Japan outplayed Kuwait 4-1, lost 3-1 to Iraq and outclassed Palestine 4-0.
The Japanese team possess a number of exciting players like forward Yuya Kubo, who plays for Switzerland’s top flight club BSC Young Boys.
Kubo has also represented the Japanese U-16, U-17 and U-18 teams.
Musahi Suzuki, the 6’ 2” forward born in Jamaica, has also been dubbed as an exciting talent. Ayumi Niekawa, the 6’ 3” goalkeeper, has already established himself as the first-choice custodian of the team and is looking forward to wearing the national jersey in the near future. Most of the footballers ply their trade with the big J-League clubs.
Japan U-21 coach Makoto Teguramori was quoted as saying in the official Japanese Football Federation website, “I made the selection of the squad based on the players from the Asian Games. I wanted to show that this selection’s aim is to encourage competition among players and make a thicker axis. I want the chosen members to show potentiality for achieving excellent results in the 2016 Rio Olympics.”
